Wisps of Beth Black ϟ Fred Weasley [2] (ON HOLD)

11

A Ball, Professor Snape had said. The Yule Ball. Sure, Beth would have loved going if she was literally anyone else who had friends to socialise with. And the thought of dancing...nope, she wouldn't do it. Beth decided she'd better yet stay in her dormitory. 

But then her mind would fight with her again, thinking things like the fact that everybody would be up in the Great Hall having fun and she'd be laying in her dormitory possibly just reading a book or something. There wasn't anybody here that she would like to go with. Beth expected Fred to be the first to ask her to the ball, but as the days passed, she hadn't gotten a peep out of him.

It was stupid, really stupid, especially seeing as she had told him more than once that she wanted nothing to do with him and to leave her alone, but the fact that he had actually listened was kind of disappointing. But then if he didn't listen, she'd just be frustrated. There was no winning with herself; she didn't know what she wanted. 

As Beth walked down a somewhat busy corridor, thinking things over in her head, wondering what she truly wanted from Fred Weasley even though he broke her heart, a body slammed into her and her books flew out of her hands and onto the floor. Beth looked around -- she couldn't tell who had just jammed into her, so instead she bent down to pick her books up. 

"Oy! Watch where you're going, dunderhead!"

It was Aleks. He bent down and gave Beth a small smile, helping her pick up her books. 

"You all right?" he asked her gently, handing her the last book before they both stood. 

Beth nodded. "I don't need you to stick up for me -- thanks."

Aleks blinked, suddenly looking rather offended. Instead of voicing this, though, he half shrugged and offered her another smile. "Can I walk with you? Where you headed?"

Beth sighed and nodded, and the two began to walk. "I don't know, really. I was looking for anywhere deserted."

"I can't understand how someone can want to be alone all the time," Aleks said, but not unkindly. He sounded genuinely curious. Fred had once said something similar to her, and she felt a pinch in her stomach at the memory. 

"I'm used to people thinking I'm really weird."

"Oh, I don't think you're weird," Aleks smiled at her. 

They came across an empty corridor and Aleks beckoned for Beth to join him at a seat. Beth reluctantly obliged, but sat at the edge of the seat so that there was space between the two of them. Before Aleks could close the gap on the seat, Beth dropped her books in between them, leaving him no room to get any closer to her. 

"For the record, I find you...quite interesting."

Beth threw Aleks a rather uncertain look. "Sure you do," she said sarcastically. 

"No really, I do. I like how you have your own thing going on, you know? You aren't pretending like most the others here, you're real. This is you. And you aren't ashamed about being real."

It was probably one of the most genuine, real thing Aleks had ever said to her. Beth blinked ahead a couple times to process what the Durmstrang boy had just said, and as though her head had control of it's own, it slowly turned towards Aleks. She looked at him curiously, trying to see if perhaps he was just being silly and joking around, but his face was blank before his grin took over and reached eye to eye. 

"So...I'm sure you've been asked," Aleks said, his face reddening.

Beth was sure she knew what Aleks was referring to, but she wanted to be sure. "What?"

"To the ball. I'm sure you've been asked."

"Oh, well...no, I haven't," she replied truthfully. It was kind of gut-wrenching; she would have loved to turn someone down. 

"What, really? You?" Aleks said, sounding shocked but the shock sounded put on. "Well, I'm about to prepare myself to be shut down but -- would you do me the honour of accompanying me on the night of the ball?"

Beth swallowed, suddenly feeling her hands sweat. She didn't have an answer for him. "Can I think about it?"

Aleks nodded with a smile. "Sure."

Minutes after Aleks left and Beth was sitting there alone, bored out of her mind, jotting down random thoughts into one of her books, she heard her name being said out of surprise. Beth looked up to see Fred approaching her happily, while his twin saluted them and kept walking away, presumably in the direction of the Great Hall as the bell was going to ring in a few minutes for lunch. 

Fred was confident with himself and took a seat by Beth, where Aleks had once been sitting. They sat in silence; Beth didn't look up from writing in her book, and Fred just sat there staring. Growing impatient with his insufferable silence, Beth's eyes flicked up and met with Fred's brown ones. 

"What on earth are you staring at me for?" she snapped. "What do you want?"

"Didn't know it was a crime to admire beauty," Fred said with a small smirk. A forced smirk didn't look good on him at all. 

"No, but it is creepy to stare," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. Fred looked away from her as she put her quill inside her book and snapped it shut. 

"So, who's going to be your date to the Yule Ball?" Fred questioned. 

Was Beth going to have to decide whether she wanted to go to the ball with Fred or Aleks? When she had thought of that gut-wrenching feeling of not having anyone to shut down, this isn't how she imagined having the chance. 

"Are you going to ask me?" Beth said in a simple voice, but she regretted it as soon as the words finished flying out of her mouth. Fred looked taken aback.

"Er -- well -- I'm actually going with Angelina Johnson."

Beth looked away from him with a distant glare, before standing up and snatching her books up from the seat. "And what? You've come over here to gloat?"

"What? No... I was just curious. Beth, you've been shutting me out for months. If I'd known you'd want me to --"

"No, I don't want you to anything," she cut in sharply. Why was this hurting her? Why? It shouldn't have been. Fred was right to move on from her, because what he was saying was true; Beth had shut him out and made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him. She hated herself for blowing up over this. "And since you're so curious, I'm going with Aleks."

Fred's eyes popped out of his head and he jumped up, causing Beth to flinch back. "I knew it, I knew that little slimeball would ask you!"

"There's nothing you can do about it, Fred... just stay away, and stay out of my business and my life," Beth said in a voice so quiet, so soft, yet so harsh it made Fred flinch. "Quit being jealous. You've got Angelina."

Beth began to walk away. 

"Not like that," Fred said, walking after her. "We're going as friends. Honestly, Beth, what do you want?!"

She stopped walking...suddenly feeling so conflicted. Beth turned around to look at Fred, and he looked so torn and confused and mentally exhausted. Beth suddenly felt horrible...she had clearly done this to him. 

You, she wanted to say. But her mouth wouldn't let her.

Beth walked up to Fred, their eyes locked the entire time. She felt her eyes prickle with tears as her mind flashed back to the stupid vow. Her mouth opened. 

"You'd just ask me as a joke anyway."